Typical Cyberpunk Synopsis

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

As I gather ideas for my film opening synopsis, I thought that to aid me I would have a look at some previous synopses of the cyberpunk genre. I will use the same three examples as I did in my previous post.

(WARNING: !CONTAINS SPOILERS!)

1984

Winston is subject to a highly controlled society that is constantly watched by 'big brother'. He feels out of place, he wants 'down with big brother' and can see through this societies lies. He rebels by secretly meeting this girl and having a romantic relationship with her, which is not allowed. Eventually they get caught as big brother had been spying on them the whole time, and he endures the painful punishment of the government, who corrupt his brain and make him conform to this society once again, stripping him of individuality.

The Matrix

Neo feels out of place, he knows things that other people don't. Neo is contacted, and led into an underworld where he meets Morpheus who gives him the choice of red pill, or blue pill: "You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes." He takes the red pill and becomes aware that they are actually all living in a virtual reality. He finds the real world and goes on an epic quest to destroy the agents. He finds out that he is 'the one' who can defeat them.

Sword Art Online

I will summarise the first half of season one, as that is the main cyberpunk part. Kirito is basically testing a new virtual reality game called 'Sword Art Online' where you climb levels until you beat the game. However as soon as they all log in for the opening, it is found that they are stuck there, and dying in there is dying in real life. Nobody on the outside world knows this, and so they are all put into hospitals. Kirito is out of place as he prefers to work alone, even though it is most dangerous, he does not want to join a clan, he has specific plans and maximum skill alone.

I have found that what these all have in common is often a character out of place and some kind of dystopian futuristic reality, in which people are controlled and dehumanised. The protagonist always has something special about them, that makes them want to rebel/challenge authority.

I will consider all of these things for my synopsis, which I am coming up with now in preparation for my film treatment presentation.